News & Analysis as of

Whistleblowers Department of Labor (DOL) Administrative Review Board

Morgan Lewis - Up & Atom

DOL Promulgates New Rule, Allows for Secretarial Review of ARB Decisions in Whistleblower Cases

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a new rule to give the Secretary of Labor discretion to review Administrative Review Board (ARB) decisions. ...more

Morgan Lewis - Up & Atom

DOL Administrative Review Board Fails to Clarify Test for Whether a Contractor Is a ‘Covered Employee’

One threshold issue in whistleblower cases involving alleged retaliation is whether a complainant who is not a direct employee is nonetheless a “covered employee.” ...more

Morgan Lewis - Up & Atom

Whistleblower Complaint Dismissed Based on Employer’s Reasonable Steps to Ensure Employee Safety

The US Department of Labor (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB) recently issued a decision in the case of Evans v. US Environmental Protection Agency, ARB Case No. 2017-0008, ALJ Case No. 2008-CAA-00003 (ARB Mar. 17,...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

ARB: SOX Whistleblower Provision Does Not Apply Extraterritorially

In a pair of recently issued decisions, the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) held that Sarbanes Oxley’s anti-retaliation provision does not apply extraterritorially. Hu v. PTC, Inc., ARB Case No....more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

U.S. Department of Labor Appoints Three New Members to the ARB

On January 8, 2019, the DOL announced Secretary Alexander Acosta’s appointment of three new members to the Administrative Review Board (ARB), filling vacancies that had been open for months, and marking the first appointments...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Tenth Circuit Vacates ARB Whistleblower Decision

On October 17, 2017, the Tenth Circuit overturned the ARB’s decision in favor of complainant for want of protected activity under SOX. Dietz v. Cypress Semiconductor Corp., No. 16-9529 (Oct. 17, 2017). This decision rolled...more

Littler

DOL Flip-Flop: SOX's Anti-Retaliation Provisions Apply to Overseas Conduct After All

Littler on

In a late-August decision with potentially far-reaching implications for foreign and multinational employers, the United States Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) held that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's (SOX)...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

DOL Allows SOX Claim Where Foreign Whistleblower Alleged Violation of US Law

The Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) recently held that a former employee of Exelis Systems Corporation who was employed in Afghanistan could bring a SOX claim even though he worked exclusively outside...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

ACA Retaliation Claim Survives Despite No Complaint About ACA Provisions

On April 28, 2017, the United States Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) allowed a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) to proceed even though the...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Fourth Circuit Upholds Four-Year Front-Pay Award To Whistleblower

On May 20, 2016, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of the ARB, finding that a former employee of Deltek, Inc. (Company) was retaliated against in violation of Section 806 of SOX and entitled to four years’ worth of...more

Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation

ARB Rejects CFPA Whistleblower Claim On Protected Activity Grounds

On November 6, 2015, the DOL’s Administrative Review Board affirmed the dismissal of Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”) whistleblower claims of a terminated mortgage broker, concluding that the complainant did not...more

Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation

ARB Rules That Secret Recording of Workplace Conversations Can Be Protected Whistleblowing Activity

On September 28, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) held that the recording of workplace conversations can be protected whistleblower activity under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974...more

FordHarrison

Fifth Circuit Rejects SOX Whistleblower Claims Not Raised in Administrative Complaint; Adopts Liberal "Reasonable Belief" Pleading...

FordHarrison on

On July 31, 2015, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision that may have both a positive and negative impact on employers defending whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). In this decision, the court...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Changes Course on Proof Required to Show Protected Whistleblower Activity Under SOX

Littler on

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provides anti-retaliation protection to whistleblowers who engage in “protected activity.” To engage in protected activity under SOX, the whistleblower must provide information to the Securities...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Safeguarding a Whistleblower’s Identity

Everyone knows that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers. It may be less obvious, however, that merely disclosing a whistleblower’s identity can constitute prohibited retaliation. Nevertheless,...more

Morgan Lewis

Fifth Circuit Finds SOX Violation in Disclosure of Whistleblower’s Identity

Morgan Lewis on

The Fifth Circuit affirms the DOL Administrative Review Board’s decision that employer disclosure of a whistleblower’s identity in a document retention notice constitutes an adverse action....more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Document Preservation Notices Can Lead to SOX Violation!

On November 12, 2014, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a Department of Labor finding that Halliburton retaliated against a whistleblower by including his name in a document preservation notice. The court also held that emotional...more

Littler

No Longer Black and White, Is the "Definitively and Specifically" Standard Now Grey?

Littler on

While the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) and the majority of federal courts once agreed that, in order to engage in "protected activity" under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), a whistleblower must...more

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